| Concept
Who/When/Where?
Implementation Details
Why? |
The possibilities
are endless when it comes to coming up with ideas for an installation
such as "Altered Perception." It is possible that if the system
is given time to grow, there could be many versions in which different
technologies are added and new software is used to generate sensory
information and to take input from the user. I like to make my projects
very scalable, and this installation is no different. While the basic
system is not overly complex, the idea can quickly become extremely
complex as we try to add more sensory input and output.
The idea
behind the system is to give the user an experience which maps as closely
as possible to the given animal's experience. Visual and auditory information
is part of the basic system, as is simple movement.
The Basic System
If
the system were designed today with existing technology, the system
would be network-based and consist of several computer systems utilizing
CORBA/RMI for communication. The computer systems may have to be multi-platform,
depending on the hardware used, which means choosing a multi-platform
programming language and/or building wrappers in other languages for
certain objects. Much of the coding would probably be done in C++.
The pressure-sensitive floor pad may have to be custom designed.
The
computer systems will consist of a high-end computer cluster to generate
the 3D graphics and output to the HMDs. Another computer cluster will
take input from the tracking devices and provide force-feedback. And
the final computer cluster will generate audio data. The actual number
of computers needed for each process will be determined upon analysis
of processor utilization for each piece of the application, but an
estimate is shown in Table 1 below. A master server will coordinate
events on all of the computers and keep them in sync.
The
mapping of user movement to avatar action will be very important for
this installation. The direction that the avatar is facing will be
based on the orientation of the user's feet on the floor pads (i.e.,
the direction that the user's feet are facing will be the direction
that the avatar will move). To make the avatar walk forward, the user
can walk in place on the pressure-sensitive pad. Users representing
birds or flying insects can flap their arms to fly. The speed of the
flapping will be amplified by the system, but the the human will esentially
have to work as hard as the animal would have to in order to fly.
If the animal  has
ears that can move, like the tiger, the direction that the user's
hands are facing will determine the rotation angle of the ears. Users
can rotate their heads to rotate the view of the world. This will
be done using a motion tracker built into the VR helmet.
Some
sort of mechanism will be needed for the user to eat other animals.
In the basic system, this can be accomplished by going up to the prey
and pointing at it with a finger.
In
the two tables below, I detail the exact hardware that will be needed
to complete the project. The total estimated cost comes to $833,144
and the total time is estimated to be 25 weeks, or about half a year.
Table
1: Parts Detail
| Item Description |
Quantity |
Cost/each |
Cost (total) |
| Development Tools |
| computers |
10 |
$1,500 |
$15,000 |
| development
software |
27 |
$400 |
$10,800 |
| miscellaneous |
|
|
$1,000 |
| Development
Tools Total |
|
|
$26,800 |
| Technology Components |
| server
computer |
1 |
$3,000 |
$3,000 |
| graphics
computer |
4 |
$1,500 |
$6,000 |
| audio
computer |
4 |
$1,500 |
$6,000 |
| control
interface and feedback computer |
4 |
$1,500 |
$6,000 |
| HMD |
4 |
$7,000 |
$28,000 |
| custom
head tracker built into HMD |
4 |
$2,000 |
$8,000 |
| surround
headphones |
4 |
$200 |
$800 |
| custom
pressure-sensitive floor pad |
4 |
$1,000 |
$4,000 |
| datagloves |
8 |
$1,000 |
$8,000 |
| custom
tracker built into dataglove |
8 |
$700 |
$5,600 |
| LCD
screens for inside cubicles |
4 |
$2,000 |
$8,000 |
| Plasma
screens for audience |
4 |
$4,000 |
$16,000 |
| network
switch |
1 |
$150 |
$150 |
| network
cables |
17 |
$10 |
$170 |
| video
cables |
8 |
$50 |
$400 |
| miscellaneous |
|
|
$1,000 |
| Technology
Total |
|
|
$101,120 |
| Mechanical/Architectural Components |
| server
rack |
4 |
$500 |
$2,000 |
| custom
cubicle tubes |
4 |
$500 |
$2,000 |
| cubicle
wall acoustical treatment |
4 |
$100 |
$400 |
| custom
LCD screen mounts |
4 |
$100 |
$400 |
| miscellaneous |
|
|
$200 |
| Mechanical
Total |
|
|
$5,000 |
| |
|
|
|
| Parts
Total |
|
|
$106,120 |
Table
2: Workload Detail
|
Job Type
|
Quantity
|
Cost/hour
|
Weeks
|
Hours
|
Cost (total)
|
|
Director/System
Integrator/Network Admin
|
1
|
$35
|
25
|
1000
|
$35,000
|
|
Core
engine programmers
|
4
|
$30
|
25
|
1000
|
$120,000
|
|
Graphics
programmers
|
4
|
$30
|
25
|
1000
|
$120,000
|
|
Audio
programmers
|
2
|
$30
|
25
|
1000
|
$60,000
|
|
Control
interface and feedback programmers
|
2
|
$30
|
20
|
800
|
$48,000
|
|
Architectural
designer
|
1
|
$30
|
5
|
200
|
$6,000
|
|
Mechanical
designer
|
1
|
$31
|
5
|
200
|
$6,200
|
|
Graphics
artists
|
9
|
$23
|
25
|
1000
|
$207,000
|
|
Audio
artists
|
2
|
$23
|
25
|
1000
|
$46,000
|
|
Feedback
artists
|
1
|
$23
|
5
|
200
|
$4,600
|
|
Overhead
(12%)
|
|
|
|
|
$47,424
|
|
Workload
Total
|
27
|
|
|
|
$700,224
|
Goals for the
Future
The
main goals for the ideal end system would be making the interaction
and control as realistic and intuitively obvious as possible, making
the action as fun as possible, and minimizing intrusion of sensors
and output devices from the computer systems. Many technical improvements
can be easily integrated into the above-described basic system. As
new wireless HMDs and trackers become available, they can be integrated
with negligible changes to the system. As realtime network protocols
become available, they will be utilized to improve any latency issues.
Climate control inside the cubicles could add another dimension of
realism. The comfort level of certain animals in the virtual climate
could trigger a climate control system to heat or cool the cubicle.
Also, fans inside the cubicle could mimic wind patterns of the environment.
The HMD could utilize an optional smell output that can be put into
the nose to enable the user to experience smells in the environment.
An
additional component that could theoretically be added is the capability
to move limbs and other body parts that humans don't have. Also, since
humans don't have tails, they could not easily experience using a
tail to help them climb a tree. Implementing dexterity that is greater
than humans' (e.g., the foot dexterity of spider monkeys) would be
tricky. Since the human mind is more capable than the mind of any
other known animal, it must ultimately be possible to map impulses
in parts of the brain to using a tail, etc., in a virtual reality.
These mapping may have to wait for new technologies, however. A feedback
system that helps signal physical events like hitting the ground hard
or death, could be integrated into the HMD. Also, as the technology
becomes available, a full-bodysuit with feedback capability would
be very useful for adding more feedback for the user. Eventually,
a menu system driven by eye-tracking could be used to perform actions
like eating. A mating option could also be added and would certainly
change the dynamics of the simulation.
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